1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to dental instruments and, more specifically, to adapters for use with prophy angles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dental prophylaxis angles, generally referred to as “prophy angles,” are commonly used dental instruments for providing rotation for dental tools such as brushes, prophy cups, or other receptacles used in cleaning/polishing teeth. Referring to FIGS. 17 and 18, a prophy angle 10 typically includes a housing 16 having a neck 18 and a head portion 14 extending at approximately a 90° angle to the neck 18, which increases the ability of a dentist to reach various surfaces of the teeth of a patient. A drive shaft or rotating member 12 can be located within the housing 16 and attached to a driven gear 20 in the head of the prophy angle. Prophy angles 10 are generally affixed to an adapter or hand piece (not shown), which connects the prophy angle to a drive source (not shown), thereby enabling a rotating motion of the rotating member 12 and driven gear 20 of the prophy angle and any affixed dental tool.
Prophy angles 10 are commonly manufactured from lightweight plastic to make them disposable, thereby increasing overall sterility in the dental environment. An issue associated with making the prophy angles 10, and their constituent elements, such as the rotating member 12, from plastic is the ability of the hand piece to engage the rotating member 12 without slipping and to engage the rotating member 12 without excessive damage to the rotating member 12. Another issue associated with the use of prophy angles 10 is the widespread use of many different and incompatible types of couplings between the drive source and the hand piece and between the hand piece and the prophy angle 10. Yet another issue associated with the use of prophy angles 10 is the number of adapters needed to provide different orientations.